CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice Test: The Great Canadian Flag Debate

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For nearly a century after Confederation, Canada had no official flag of its own. The Royal Union Flag, commonly called the Union Jack, was still the country’s official flag, while the Canadian Red Ensign, a red banner with the Union Jack in its upper corner and a shield bearing Canadian symbols, flew over federal buildings and was widely treated as the national emblem. Canadian soldiers had carried the Red Ensign in the later years of the Second World War, and many veterans were deeply attached to it. Others, however, felt that a flag dominated by British imagery spoke to only part of the population, particularly French Canadians and the growing number of immigrants from other countries. Calls for a distinctive design surfaced repeatedly, but successive governments judged the issue too divisive to take on.

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That changed after Lester B. Pearson became prime minister in 1963. Pearson wanted a new flag in place before the country’s hundredth birthday in 1967, and in May 1964 he presented his plan to a convention of the Royal Canadian Legion, the country’s largest veterans’ organization. Many in the audience booed him. Undeterred, Pearson brought his favoured design to Parliament: three red maple leaves joined on a single stem against a white background, with a blue bar on each side. Critics soon nicknamed it the “Pearson Pennant.” Opposition leader John Diefenbaker, a firm defender of the Red Ensign, led a fierce resistance, and the debate in the House of Commons dragged on for weeks without a resolution.

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To break the deadlock, Parliament handed the question to a special committee of fifteen members drawn from several parties. Over the following weeks, the committee examined thousands of suggestions sent in by the public, featuring everything from beavers to sheaves of wheat. The design that eventually won owed much to historian George Stanley, who pointed to the flag of the Royal Military College in Kingston, where he taught: red at either side with white in the middle. Stanley proposed placing a single red maple leaf in that white centre. The leaf itself was later simplified to eleven points so that it would remain recognizable even when the flag was whipping about in a strong wind. In the committee’s final vote, the single-leaf design was chosen unanimously.

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The House of Commons approved the new flag in the early hours of December 15, 1964, and the Senate followed two days later. Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed it in January 1965, and on February 15 of that year the red-and-white Maple Leaf was raised over Parliament Hill for the first time. Not everyone let go of the old symbol: within about two years, Ontario and Manitoba had adopted provincial flags based on the Red Ensign, and both still fly them today. Since 1996, February 15 has been marked as National Flag of Canada Day. The flag that once divided Parliament has become one of the most recognized national symbols in the world, often seen sewn onto the backpacks of Canadian travellers.